Pitt Lake float plane crash kills 1

CBC

One person has been killed and another is in hospital with undetermined injuries after a small plane crashed into Pitt Lake, east of Vancouver just after 4:30 p.m. PT Monday.

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria says the Cessna 172 had taken off shortly before the crash from the nearby Pitt Meadows airport. Initial indications are the float plane was on a training run at the time of the crash.

Captain Eric Niemi said the injured person was picked up by a pleasure boat that was on the lake at the time.

A rescue helicopter that was training in Squamish at the time then arrived and dropped a search and rescue technican into the water, who swam to the plane and pulled one body out.

It's unclear what caused the aircraft to go down, but Niemi said despite a light rain, flying conditions were good at the time. The Transportation Safety Board is expected to investigate the crash on Tuesday.